Survive By The Team (Team Fear Book 3)

by Cindy Skaggs

“Work. Where are you? We stayed up half the night waiting for you to get here.”

  “Long story. I am in Tucson, though. I can swing by the morgue—”

  “I’m upstairs in the ME’s office right now. You need directions?”

  “I’ll figure it out. First I need to—”

  The line clicked off. Stills stood beside her with the phone cord dangling through his large fingers. The hoodie fell away to show a red flush climbing his cheeks. A muscle twitched near his right eye. He looked pissed. “No calls.”

  She swallowed and snuck a glance around the big man. The nurses had disappeared. Voluntarily? Or had they gone to get help? Hopefully that one because reality had finally knocked her over the head. Who said Stills was safe? Sure, she’d seen him in her brother’s pictures, but a lot of people served in the Army. Not all of them were friendly. Or sane.

  “Let’s roll.”

  “I called for a ride,” she said, resisting his efforts to get her moving.

  “I’ve got a ride waiting.”

  “I was just thinking...”

  “Thinking what?”

  That following a stranger was as sane as wearing a tinfoil helmet. “I’ll wait for my friend to pick me up.”

  “No time. They found the deputy’s body.”

  Coincidence? Could it possibly be a coincidence that they found the body when Stills was out of her eyesight? Or maybe Danny’s paranoia was contagious, because she truly believed that Stills could have done the deed to the deputy just as easily as the mysterious and invisible Echo. Dread curled through her empty gut. “Dead?”

  “Don’t know. Don’t care. We don’t have time to waste.”

  “Not we. You. You should go without me.”

  “That’s no longer an option.”

  Mandi stood on legs shaky from the effort and the fear that was starting to work through her system. “What did you do the deputy?”

  “Not a damn thing.” He gripped her bicep and propelled her toward the door. “But Echo did and he’s loose.”

  “Echo isn’t the name of a person. Not a real one.” Stills had served with her brother. Surely she could reason with him. “You do realize that sounds crazy, right? Paranoid?”

  “Even paranoids have enemies.”

  She pried his fingers off her arm so her fingers were wrapped around his. “And sometimes they simply need help.”

  The touch acted like a spark. Even as she tried to disentangle herself, the heat of attraction burned from their joined hands until she released her grip.

  “Is that what you think about your brother? That he was paranoid? Delusional?”

  It hurt to admit, but she nodded, her throat too tight to speak. Deep down, she feared that her brother had taken a dive off the deep end. He’d never come back up.

  “That’s not what killed him,” Stills assured her. “He didn’t commit suicide. He didn’t go off the rails. He was shoved, and the people who pushed are the ones after you. We’ll figure out why, but first we need to get to safety.”

  “How do I know what you’re saying is true?”

  “You saw what Echo did upstairs.”

  “I saw what someone did upstairs. I saw the room torn apart. I saw the nurse on the floor. But I never saw another man.”

  He shook his head, looking stunned. He straightened, pulling his chin back to stare down, meeting her gaze for the first time. His eyes were dark green like a pine forest with lighter needles of color and an edge of darkness rimming them. “You think I did it?” he asked.

  Turning from his intense gaze, she sought the nearest exit. “There was no one else there.”

  “Honey, if I’d done the deed, it would have been silent, and when it was through, I would have disappeared before anyone thought of pulling an alarm.”

  The cold certainty in his tone destroyed whatever warmth she’d gotten from his touch moments ago. “That doesn’t convince me of your...” Sanity. Safety. “Look at this from my view. There’s no proof another man was in the room.”

  “Look at this from my point of view,” he countered. “My best friend told me to protect you, and the only way I know to do that is get you out of this hospital.”

  She shook her head and back stepped toward the kitchen area. “Fifteen minutes ago, you wanted me to stay here with the deputy. I think that’s a solid plan.”

  “That was before things went sideways. Echo is here and the deputy couldn’t save himself—”

  She yanked open the nearest drawer looking for a weapon. “I’m not ending up like the deputy.”

  A look of frustration crossed his rugged features. “I’m trying to protect you.”

  “I’m not going.”

  He chuckled and took a step forward.

  Crap. That deep, dark laughter held no humor.

  “You’re smarter than that.”

  Somehow those words didn’t come out as a compliment. “I’m smart enough not to get into the car with a delusional stranger.”

  “Delusional?” He cocked his head to the side like a predator eyeing prey. “Not yet.”

  Another step closer with a slight smile tilting his lips.

  He didn’t look crazy. He looked dangerous.

  The fight or flight response roared through her blood. She yanked open another drawer. Ketchup packets and plastic silverware. His slightly amused smile only heightened her fear. This was a game to him. She yanked another drawer and another until she found the silverware. She grabbed a steak knife and held it in front of her.

  It might be fun and games to him, but to her it was life or death.

  “I think Echo is a figment of your imagination. Danny saw things. Thought he saw things. One minute, he’d swear he was being followed. The next he’d tell me not to follow him.”

  The amusement drained from his face, leaving cold hard unreadable features. “He wasn’t crazy. Look, I’ll explain everything, but my priority is getting you to safety. I’ll take you willing or not. Either way, we’re leaving the hospital.”

  He struck like a snake, too fast for her to react before he grabbed her wrist and immobilized her. He used his larger body to cage her against the counter. It was like being slammed between a brick wall and a dodge ball. Breath whooshed from her lungs. With a slight pressure to her wrist bone, the knife clattered harmlessly to the tile. She opened her mouth to scream, but he put a hand over her mouth.

  “Gault did not imagine those things. He was being followed. Echo most likely, or someone like him. And your brother warned you off because he didn’t want you caught up in his shit.”

  She mumbled against his hand.

  “You going to keep quiet?”

  She nodded. He removed his hand, but kept her trapped against the counter. She sucked in a deep breath. “How can you know that about Danny? You weren’t anywhere around.”

  A look of sorrow passed his features so fast it might have been a figment of her imagination. “I know that about Danny because we’ve all experienced it.”

  “All? Who? And what is ‘it’?” The question knocked him back a step, but she had no illusion that he’d given her enough room to run. “I’m not going anywhere until you answer my question.”

  “Which one?”

  “All of them, starting with what you’ve experienced. What Danny experienced.”

  A flicker of pain washed over his eyes, but he blinked it away. “Paranoia. Anger. We’ve all felt it, Danny and the rest of Team Fear.”

  “Why?” She wanted to beat her head against the nearest wall, which right now was Stills’ broad chest.

  “We were involved in a classified program that was cancelled. Now someone is trying to erase all evidence, and that means every last man on the team. Madigan. Gault. Me. You as well, apparently.” Stills swiped a hand over his eyes as if to block the image. When he spoke, his voice was a low hiss. “They killed my best friend.” He stabbed a finger in the air. “Murder. Not suicide. And I won’t rest until the fuckers responsible meet the same brutal end.”
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br />   The words were fierce and completely unbelievable. They were what she wanted desperately to hear, that Danny hadn’t killed himself, but the details were too fantastic for real life. Listening to his story was like walking into the middle of a movie. She had no idea what was happening or who the good guys were. “That sounds...”

  “Paranoid. I know. I thought the same thing when Madigan died.” Pain pinched his rugged features. “And then they came for your brother.”

  Mandi’s soft heart had her reaching to soothe his obvious pain, but she stopped short. Danny hadn’t wanted physical contact in the last months. He’d separated himself, much as this big, fierce, and intimidating man. Her heart ached for him, for the pain he’d obviously experienced at the loss of his friends. At his perceived failures. Yes, she hurt for him, but that didn’t mean she had to believe his stories. She let her hand drop.

  He met her gaze and she couldn’t look away. Determination glinted in the forest green depths. “I won’t let them hurt you. If you don’t trust that I’ll protect you from Echo, trust that I would never hurt Gault’s sister. Ever.”

  What was right? He’d done nothing overt to harm her. And if she were being logical, Stills could have killed her by now if that was his plan. He seemed sincere but the accident and the residual meds made her thought processes hazy. Over the years, Danny had served with hundreds of men. That didn’t mean they were all friends. “Tell me something about him. Something no one else knows.”

  “Picture not enough for you?”

  “Pictures lie.”

  “Yes, they can,” he admitted. “Like the ones of Danny that last day. The ones from the paper. They’re a truth covering a bigger lie.”

  She sighed. The paranoia was hard to hear after the months of grief. She thought that kind of talk had died with Danny, and yet, hadn’t she been paranoid? Hadn’t she believed that Danny’s death wasn’t an accident? God, her head hurt and the constant throbbing made it hard to process everything.

  Stills glanced around as if to make sure he couldn’t be overheard. Or maybe he was watching the door. “He put a spoonful of peanut butter in his coffee every morning. It’s one of the more disgusting habits I’ve seen.”

  It wasn’t what he said but how he said it. Obvious pain and affection lived in his tone when he talked about Danny.

  Mandi’s laugh came out watery. “It’s not so bad once you try it.”

  “I’ll take your word for it.”

  The pain in Stills’ eyes matched the pain in her heart. They shared that memory of Danny, but so much more. They had both lost a brother.

  “He was... different when he came back. Quiet. Alone.” God, he’d been so isolated and that kind of solitude was especially hard on a twin who had never really been alone. Mandi had tried to reach her brother, but he had withdrawn. He’d rebuffed her. He took care of her and Ellie, but he hadn’t been fully present. Not since... “What happened on his last deployment?”

  Chapter Four

  Stills frowned. They were wasting time. “I answered your questions.” He used her confusion to propel her out the staff door and into the bright light of day. He hadn’t wanted to bring her into their mess, but if Echo had knocked twice, they weren’t going away. The protection he provided might be the only thing to keep her alive. He slid on a pair of wraparound shades to block the overload of light and maneuvered around the hospital. “The car’s this way.”

  She tripped along behind him and put a hand up to block the glare of the sun. “I never agreed to go anywhere with you,” she said, sounding more stunned than angry.

  “Yet here we are.”

  They bypassed the signs pointing to the parking garage. The confined space had too many places to set an ambush. Instead, Stills had parked on the street. Easy exit. When they reached the side street, he led her down the block. They walked beside a low cement wall. On the other side in a partially protected alcove a smoker was taking a break by a butt can. He wore blue scrubs and a scowl. Stills kept him in his peripheral vision as they walked toward the car, which, as he stepped closer, was being lifted onto the back of a tow truck.

  “Shit, that’s my car.”

  “That they’re towing?” She picked up her speed. “Did you park in a reserved parking zone or something.”

  “Or something.”

  “It’s not too late until he pulls away. I’ve sweet-talked my way out of worse. Maybe if I went?”

  He gripped her and spun her away from the car. “Can’t do that.”

  “That sounds just like Danny. Always a reason you can’t choose the reasonable approach.”

  “It’s not that.” He shrugged off the frustration. “The car is stolen.”

  “What?” she gasped, her eyes rounded in disbelief. “You’re driving a stolen car?”

  “I liked that car.” He’d stolen it off a drug dealer in El Paso in the middle of an emergency getaway. The car might be rusty, but it had a plush interior and an engine that purred. He held her arm to keep her from stepping into the path of a car zipping out of the parking garage. A steady stream of traffic spewed from the mouth of the garage as they waited to cross. “I’ll acquire another vehicle.” Something dusty that had been sitting awhile.

  “You’re not stealing a car.”

  “Says who?”

  “It’s wrong.”

  “So is dying.”

  “You could at least try talking to the tow truck driver.” She spun on a heel and headed back down the sidewalk. Halfway across the drive, wheels screeched, their echo climbing the dark tunnel from the garage.

  Stills raced to her and pulled her off the driveway. What he had initially assumed was an idiot in a hurry changed when the car followed them down the sidewalk. Mandi’s scream shattered the shocked air. He pushed her between two parked cars. Gripped her arm to pull her back the way they’d come.

  The car whipped a U-turn and headed straight at them.

  If the driver was armed, they were toast. There was nowhere to go. Stills eyed the smoking area, but it was a long shot.

  Another car roared out of the parking garage. Stills dove for the low cement wall next to the building. The smoker dropped his cigarette and stared at the erratic car. Stills shoved Mandi over the wall and followed her onto the side yard. Dirt as hard as cement bruised his knees. He rolled to a crouch and forced Mandi below the level of the wall so she wouldn’t get hit. Metal crunched on the other side of the barrier. He peered over to see that a truck had T-boned the car chasing them.

  The man from the Echo kill wall—the pretend orderly—crawled out of the driver’s window. A long gash dripped blood down his square face. He swiped a hand over it, snarled, and climbed over the hood of the vehicle that had hit him. Headed for their dubious shelter.

  Shit, looked like they were going to do this now. A bus rumbled past to stop at a bench near the corner. To make it, they’d have to get past Echo.

  Stills pulled the handgun from behind his back.

  This time, Mandi gripped his arm. “You can’t get into a gunfight in the middle of the street. That’s what got Danny killed.”

  Damnit. If he killed Echo in a public place, then his face would be plastered next to Ryder’s on the evening news. Or worse, the cops searching the hospital would come outside and gun him down, much as they had Gault. “I’m okay with that.” The risk was worth the chance to eliminate Echo. “Stay down,” he ordered.

  Smoking guy pulled out his phone. Stills turned the gun on the man. “Phone,” he ordered. The man looked ready to argue as his eyes tracked the action behind Stills’ back. He used the man’s distraction to grab the phone and lobbed it across the street like a grenade.

  “Stills,” Mandi called. She’d peeked her head over the rim of the cement wall to watch as Echo marched across the street toward them. He looked like the Terminator. Big and ugly, emotionless and unstoppable. Stills aimed for center mass and pulled the trigger.

  Click.

  Stills ejected the clip to find it empty. D
amn security guard carried an empty gun?

  They were so fucked.

  The driver of the truck opened his door and stepped out. The man had dyed his hair so black he looked like someone had taken shoe polish to his fugly head, but there was no mistaking the military bearing and the unbreakable jaw of Captain Johnson.

  “Fuck me.” Stills leaned back on his heels. Time slowed as he watched their long-lost leader enter the fray. The odds were fifty-fifty that the captain was part of the company—he was part of the company as the man had recruited every man from Team Fear—but Stills never thought he’d see the day when their team leader came to kill him in cold blood. Two against one.

  Motherfuckit. When were the odds ever in their favor?

  He stood to his full height. Damned if he was cowering. Mandi grabbed his belt loop, but failed to pull him down. He handed her the gun.

  “What am I supposed to do with an empty weapon?”

  “Bluff.”

  Crazy glistened in Echo’s eyes as he stepped up the curb. Mandi pointed the empty gun at him. “This is what followed Danny?”

  “Yep.” Stills hopped onto wall’s ledge, gaining the higher position. Echo hadn’t used a weapon in the hospital, which meant he probably couldn’t get a gun past security. Stills would operate under the assumption Echo was unarmed until he learned differently.

  He needed to eliminate Echo before the captain double-teamed him. Echo motioned for him, and Stills had no problem bringing the pain. He dove for Echo and they both rolled to the ground. Before he could get a solid upper hand, the captain kicked.

  The dusty hiking boot caught Echo in the temple.

  Stills rolled to the side, but Echo—still dazed—moved too slow to follow. The captain was on him with a solid punch to the jaw. Echo’s head smacked the cement sidewalk with a sick thud.

  “Go,” Captain Johnson yelled. “I’ll hold him off.”

  What the ever-loving hell? “Whose side are you on?”

  “Mine. Now get the girl and move out.”

  Stills grabbed Mandi under the arms and dead lifted her over the barrier. She squeaked but kept the gun in hand. Once she was on the ground, he relieved her of the weapon, tucked it behind his back, and covered it with the hoodie. They skirted the captain where he pounded on Echo. The two men were strangely quiet except for the occasional grunt when a punch landed.